Editor's note:  this recap has been reprinted with permission from Elwood Bruise's superb All Bout Derby blog, the best source for commentary on derby in the Pacific Northwest.  Thanks, Elwood!

First off, this won't be my usual jam-by-jam recap. By now, I'm sure that most of you have heard that the Rose City Wheels Of Justice defeated the Rat City Rollergirls All-Star team to the tune of 154-63. So I've decided to post my thoughts and views of the game instead of reliving a 91 point blow-out.

The first part of the story evolves around who wasn't playing. Rat City only dressed 12 skaters. Two short of the total number you can put on the bench, but still a managable number. Some of the skaters who weren't playing included ace jammers Miss Fortune and Blonde An Bitchin. And also as far as I could tell, key players Ann R. Kissed, Wile E. Peyote, Femme Fatale and former TT captain Valtron 3000 didn't even make the trip. And to add to the numbers situation, current team captain and blocking savant, D-Bomb, tweaked her knee in the opening jam and wound up sitting out for the rest of the bout.

But Rose City didn't have each and everyone of their best players skating out there, either. One of their ace jammers, November Pain wasn't there at all. And other regulars on the WoJ such as Dora Doom, Ava Sk8trix, Angry Wrench, Teq"Kill"Ya and Rocket Mean didn't suit up, either (not to mention WoJ staple Fran Checkya who recently parted ways with the league). So this Wheels Of Justice squad wasn't exactly the same one that they will be fielding in Houston in a few weeks, let alone against AZRD in two weeks.

So did the 14 vs 12 situation help Rose City or hurt Rat City? I think it probably played a small role in it. However, usually in situations like this where numbers and depth are issues, those issues usually don't start showing themselves until sometime late in the first half or in the second half. After the first three jams of the first half in this bout, Rose City held a 22-0 lead (and I'm pretty sure that depth issues aren't even a factor at that point even if you have 7 or 8 players). After 6 jams, Rose City held a commanding 54-0 lead. Rat City didn't even post a point on the scoreboard until somewhere around 12 minutes into the game. The score at halftime was 92-29.

The big question was would those players who weren't dressed for Rat City have made this a different game? No doubt the score would have been much closer. But even as good as they are, I'm not sure the additions of Miss Fortune, Blonde An Bitchin and a healthy D-Bomb could have made up a 91 point difference. 30 or 40 points, those three could do. But not 91.

To me, it was the first 15 minutes or so of the first half that told the tale of two teams going in opposite directions. Two teams playing on opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one side you had Rose City who had the look of 14 skaters playing together as a team. The formations they played were true. If someone found themselves out of position, another skater would plug that hole effectively. They were also playing with an incredibly high level of discipline. The only time Rose City had problems with skaters heading over to the penalty box was later on in the second half when all the accumulating minors started taking their toll.

Rat City on the other hand looked suprisingly lost out on the track those first 15 minutes. Blockers spread all over the place and out of position, jammers getting next to no help in their quest to simply break out of the pack to make a scoring run. And the penalties...it's going to sound terrible and I'm sure that there will be plenty of Rat City people who get upset at me saying this, but have they learned ANYTHING from the Kansas City bout in the National Championship game last year? In two of those first six jams in which they were outscored 54-0, the Rat City jammer was sent off to the penalty box in two of those. I'm not sure as to the exact time I remember noticing this, but Rat City had sent 6 skaters to the penalty box before even one Rose City skater had to serve a sentence.

The bottom line for Rat City is that as amazingly talented as they are (I still say that individually...top to bottom...they are the most talented league in the world of roller derby), their seemingly apparent denial of their penalty problems will be their eventual downfall in the upcoming tournament season. And no...WFTDA 3.0 or 3.1 aren't excuses anymore. Rose City got those rules at the same time Rat City did and they didn't seem to have nearly as many problems with them in this bout.

Another common thing I heard throughout the night was the theme of this wasn't an officially sanctioned bout...a pre-season or tune-up game if you will. Which was true. But when you are playing in a game like this, the purpose is to make it a test amongst your players and coaches to see what you need to work on in order to gain success when the games really count. For Rose City, I saw a squad totally focused on winning through teamwork and discipline. For Rat City, frankly, I'm not sure what I was looking at. Even though I'm sure most of them would deny it, I don't think Rat City took this bout very seriously at all. Maybe they were looking at it as a glorified scrimmage of sorts. Or maybe they figured they could walk right into that hangar at Oaks Park and march out of there with a 50 point win under their belt. The entire bout had the look of one team determined to win, and another team thinking the win was already theirs before the first whistle even blew.

One thing I tell everyone (especially those in newer leagues) is that when you go into a bout, you should be focused on what you and your team have to do in order to win the game. Don't worry about what the other team has or can do. Just worry about executing YOUR game plan...impose YOUR will on the other team and don't play into their hands. Make the other team makes adjustments according to what YOU are doing. And on Saturday night, the Wheels Of Justice did just that. For me, it was a textbook example of everything I've been preaching to anyone who would listen to me over the last couple of years.

At the end of the day, this was a solid win for Rose City. Even though they beat a team missing a few play makers, they still dominated a very talented team in every aspect of the game. Just observing the attitude both teams were showing on the face of the picture, I am pretty sure that Rose City would have won this game no matter who was or wasn't on the track for Rat City.

Three Stars

3. Carmen Getsome. I thought she was by far and away the best player for Rat City on the night. The last couple of times I've seen her play, she's had problems (right or wrong) staying out of the penalty box. She still sat there for three minutes on Saturday night, but she was also the most effective blocker for Rat City along with being their most effective jammer by scoring 35 points in 6 runs at jammer.

2. Madame Bumpsalot. This was the best game I saw her play so far this year. In those critical first 6 jams, she posted 24 of Rose City's first 54 points. And within the pack, I thought she epitomized a good portion of the Rose City blocking attack; rarely out of position and playing very disciplined.

1. Megahurtz. If Bumpsalot epitomized the RCR blocking attack, I thought Megahurtz epitomized their attitude. Like every bout she plays in, she has one thing on her mind; to punish anyone and everyone wearing a uniform that doesn't look like hers. And she did just that; blasting player after player over and over again. All while sporting that sadistic grin of hers. But to me, the most amazing thing about her was that as often as she was laying the lumber to people, she still only served a total of three minutes in the penalty box. She is a true enforcer out there...probably the best in the northwest at this point.

Key Jam Of the Game

Already sporting a nifty 13-0 lead going into the third jam of the first half, RCR jammer Goodie Two Skates took advantage of Rat City jammer Ninjit Su's trip to the penalty box by earning lead jammer and skating away with an eventual 9-0 decision. Then in the very next jam, Vominatrix continued to set the tone of the game by picking up another 9-0 run with Ninjit Su still sitting in the sin bin. At this point...at least from my observations stated above...the game was as good as over.

Bad Girl Of the Game

I swear I would never have to say this, but Rat City's Juliet Bravo of all people led the RCRG parade to the penalty box by serving 5 minutes in the sin bin.

At the very end of the night at Plan B, there were still a few of us hanging around as the bar was closing down. Out of everyone who was there, there was a circle of us that included Mizguided, Alan, Rocket Mean and myself talking about stuff. I joked in the last Rose City recap that Rocket Mean didn't know what it was that I did. Well, she apparently does now (lol). She asked me "so what are you gonna stick on your blog about this one, huh"? I kinda chuckled at that and then I asked her "so how does this feel"?

She didn't verbally answer that question. The usually brash and outspoken Rocket Mean almost seemed to choke back some tears for a second. The league that (at least from the story I've heard) she started after a conversation one night at the old Sabala's from scratch had, at least for this one night, risen to the top of the northwest derby world.